Carol HedrickLehigh ElementaryLee County School District, North Fort Myers, Florida

With assistance from Florida DKG Educational Foundation, Carol will be attending the “International Society for Technology in Education” (ISTE) Conference in Chicago, Illinois, June 24-27, 2018.

Carol seeks to enhance her skills and her knowledge of teaching with technology so that she can properly educate her students using the products and innovation that comes with digital learning.

​Congratulations, Carol!

2017 Professional Development Award Recipients

Dr. Stephanie Lutton Carey

​Assistant Research Professor, EngineeringUniversity of South FloridaHillsborough County, Florida

​Professional Event:International Society for Prosthetics and Orthotics (ISPO) 16th World Congress; International Society for Prosthetics and Orthotics Cape Town, South Africa​May of 2017​

Dr. Stephanie Carey, an Assistant Research Professor, Engineering, at the University of South Florida, attended the “International Society for Prosthetics and Orthotics (ISPO) World Congress”, an event held in Cape Town, South Africa. This event allowed for professionals from around the globe to learn about the latest scientific research, innovative technologies and clinical advances to help people who use a prosthesis, orthosis, mobility or assistive devices. By attending this event, Stephanie hopes to gain a better understanding of the international perspective concerning prosthetics and assistive technologies. During the ISPO World Congress, Stephanie gave two (2) presentations on the research projects that she has advised which targeted improving prosthetic design and training. Her research projects are part of the “Center for Assistive, Rehabilitation & Robotics Technologies” (CARRT) at the University of South Florida. CARRT employs between 15-20 students from the undergraduate and graduate level each year. These students, as well as the 40-50 students that enroll in the Rehabilitation Engineering course at USF each fall, will benefit from Stephanie’s experiences at the ISPO World Congress. Stephanie plans to add a global perspective to her course in the fall of 2017 by adding a project for the students to design assistive technologies that will help those with disabilities in developing countries. Stephanie conducted a Skype web-based exchange between the students at local school in Cape Town, South Africa and students at Corbett Prep in Tampa where she is the coach of the FIRST Lego Robotics League team and a Board of Trustees member. Stephanie plans to present the information she learned at the event by writing a Critically Acclaimed Topic (CAT) that will be presented on the American Academy of Orthotists and Prosthetists (AAOP) website. (www.oandp.org)

​Congratulations, Stephanie!​We wish you the best and would be honored to hear about the ISPO 16th World Congress!

Cara Dunford Holt

​​Cara Dunford Holt, a reading coach, at Yankeetown Pre K-8 school in Levy County, Florida will attend a hands-on writing workshop titled “Kagan Cooperative Learning - The Writing Process”, which will be held in Orlando, Florida. The workshop will demonstrate ways to use the interactive Kagan Structures to enhance each stage of the writing process. Cara plans to use the strategies she learns from this workshop to make writing engaging for the students and teachers at her school site. Statistics have proven that pre-writing experiences boost motivation to write, and positive peer response groups motivate students to edit and re-write. A variety of presentation structures turns publishing a written work into a non-threatening opportunity to share. Cara will have an opportunity to learn Kagan’s foolproof techniques that successfully integrate writing across the curriculum. Students experience the power of simple peer feedback techniques to motivate and re-energize their writing. This experiential writing workshop will give Cara dozens of strategies to address the eight stages of the writing process that will change the student perspective of writing into an opportunity instead of an assignment. She plans to conduct a professional development session for her colleagues at Yankeetown School during the back to school week in the fall of 2017.By using a cooperative learning structure and engaging ways to learn the writing process, Cara strongly believes that she can give her teachers the tools for success that will positively impact the 280 students at her school. She also plans to share what she has learned at the Levy County District Reading Coaches meeting so that other Reading Coaches in her district can share the writing process techniques with their schools. If enough interest is generated, then Cara will present a district professional development session for teachers. Cara also looks forward to sharing what she has learned from the training with her Alpha Rho sisters at her local Delta Kappa Gamma chapter meeting. Congratulations, Cara!​Your training sounds like a fabulous venue to enhance writing instruction for your students!

​Professional development is defined as a growth-promoting learning process that empowers employed educators to further excellence in education.

Thank you for your interest in the Florida DKG Educational Foundation Professional Development Award.